Rebellyonus
by FeatherlynneXWarrior
Summary: A mysterious organization reeks havoc on Shadow's life and a war that was never meant to affect him becomes his entire reason for staying alive. But one question still hangs in the air: Who is Lindiaus, and what is the disaster that will unfold when her soul awakens? Full description: .


_Rebellyonus (The Shadow Saga) _

Chapter 1: Coin Toss

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _Sonic groaned, trying to block out the annoying sound.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _"Alright, alright! I'm up, I'm up!" Sonic forcefully pushed the off button on his persistent digital alarm clock and the beeping stopped. The radio automatically turned on. Sonic yawned and crawled out of his blue bed and pushed his cerulean and white bed sheets aside.

_"And that was Mina's latest hit; "Soldier Boy." More music on its way after the news – sponsored by Westopolis News!"_

Sonic yawned again and weakly walked into his white-tiled bathroom and took his toothbrush and toothpaste from his drawer under the marble sink.

_"Westopolis weather will be sunny with highs in the mid-70s,"_

Sonic squeezed the mint toothpaste onto the blue toothbrush and started brushing.

_"A perfect day for a walk in the park,"_

Sonic spit out his toothpaste violently at those words like the radio had just announced that the last chili dog in the entire world was eaten by Eggman and bolted to his red dresser, scattering loose papers and clothes all over his room, making it look like a tornado had just recently come through. He grabbed the letter on his dresser from Shadow and reread it.

_Dear Sonic,_

_Meet me at the Great Lawn of Alexander Memorial Park at 10:00 a.m., this Saturday. You owe me a rematch, faker. It's time for some race action._

_ Sincerely,_

_Shadow_

"Aw man! I'm such an idiot! I set the alarm clock for the time of the _race_ instead of when I was supposed to _wake up_," Sonic could almost hear Shadow's dark reply at those words: _Both are true, Faker, better start lighting a fire under those feet of yours if you ever wanna beat me._ Mocked Shadow's dark voice inside Sonic's head.

"I better get cleaned up and out of here at Triple Sonic Speed!" and with that Sonic rushed to get dressed and smooth out his quills and bolted out the door and to the Great Lawn.

An ebony hedgehog with red highlights and crimson eyes stood on top of lush green hill staring out at the valley before him with the light, summer breeze sending little ripples through his dark fur like small waves in the ocean just about to touch the sandy shore.

_Where is he? I know punctuality was never his strong side, but he's almost twenty minutes late! He'd better put that speed of his to good use if he ever wants to race me. _

He sighed and closed his crimson eyes, the gentle summer breeze ruffling his ebony pelt ever so slightly as the sun's warm rays casted warm rays against his tan face, the long, wild blades of grass brushing against his shoes and ankles. He often spent hours alone, lost in thought and away from the world. A world that rejected him. Hated him. Feared him.

In the distance he heard a small rustle, slowly getting louder and louder.

"Huh? What the-?"

But almost as soon as he said it his question was answered. A blue blur whizzed by him creating a huge gust of wind and then suddenly stopped. Sonic was leaned up against a cedar tree just across from Shadow, holding a small flower in his hand.

Sonic stiffed the flower and sighed. "Hey Shadow! Long time no see! What's new?" He greeted casually.

"You're late!" snarled Shadow accusingly, his crimson eyes burning and his first clench in the air as if he was getting ready to punch Sonic.

Sonic returned the glare with a friendly smile and shrugged. "What can I say? I set my alarm clock for the wrong time. So, are we gonna race or not?"

Shadow's muscles relaxed and folded his arms and stood up to his full height, regaining his composure. "Yeah, sure. But next time, set your alarm for the right time! We've already wasted over twenty minutes because of you and-"

"And we're wasting even more time talking about how late I was. Now come ON! It's race time!" interrupted Sonic, dropping the flower and stepping up to the starting line, which was the edge of the cliff.

Shadow smiled. "Alright, fine. On your mark, get set…" He waited a moment longer to build up the suspense. He could see Sonic's red and white striped shoes just itching to get moving. A tiny excited and impatient whimper escaped the blue hedgehog's mouth. Shadow smiled. He was _so_ easy to mess with.

"GO!"

"ALRIGHT!" Sonic exclaimed and bolted off into the valley with Super Sonic Speed, leaving Shadow in the dust.

Shadow rocketed after him, leaving a cloud of dust behind him as well. Shadow chuckled to himself as he followed the huge cloud of dust trailing behind the blue streak. Sonic didn't even know where he was racing _to._ He was going to tell the blue streak where they were racing to, but Sonic had seemed so impatient on getting his feet moving that Shadow had decided to let him figure it out, let him sweat it out. But knowing that hedgehog he wouldn't sweat it at all. He probably didn't even care where they were racing to, so long as it wasn't near water. Actually, now that he thought of it, maybe the finish line should be by a lake, that way there's no way Sonic could win, because he'd be too scared to cross it for fear of getting wet!

Shadow chuckled at this. Oh well. He'd do it next time.

Shadow took a sharp left around a cliff side and rocketed down the valley beside a small, calm river. As pretty as it was, he couldn't stop and enjoy the scenery now. He had a race to win.

A blue streak came into sight. Well, not a blue _streak_ per say. It had slowed down to the point where you could distinguish what it was. Shadow smiled. He was getting cocky. Thought he had this race in the bag. Shadow nearly burst out laughing. He wasn't going to win _that_ easily. Oh no. Shadow wasn't been running as _nearly_ as fast as he could. Just taking it easy so he could leave that hedgehog in the dust! But he couldn't get too far behind. He put on an extra burst of speed and caught up to Sonic, running beside him at the same speed.

Sonic turned his head. "Hey Shadsy, getting' tired?"

"Nah, you?"

"Me? Get tired? In your dreams, Ol' Timer!"

_OLD TIMER?! Why that- _An idea suddenly popped into Shadow's brain that he couldn't help smiling at.

"Old timer? That's something you'll never be if you keep talking like that!" retorted Shadow and gave the blue hedgehog a good push.

Sonic yelped and lost his footing and some speed for a brief moment before he regained his balance. Shadow hadn't meant for Sonic to lose his balance, but to get him closer to the river's edge. He knew Sonic hated water, and getting as close to it as possible was meant to unhinge him, and get a good laugh.

Sonic's eyes widened when he realized how close he was to the water's edge. A flash of fear whipped across his green eyes and he carefully inched away from the river bank. Shadow smirked and chuckled to himself. Ooh, this hedgehog was _so_ easy to mess with.

"So, um, where are we racing to anyway?" asked Sonic, still uneasy about his too-close-for-comfort encounter with the river's edge.

Shadow glanced over at him. "Phil's! I was gonna meet Rouge there after the race!"

"Sounds good to me! I could go with a decent breakfast!"

"Same here! All I had was an apple!"

"Speak for yourself! I didn't have anything!"

"And whose fault is that?" teased Shadow.

"Shut up!" laughed Sonic and gave his friend a friendly shove.

Shadow laughed. Even though Sonic could be annoying, he enjoyed his company.

A sudden stream of sunlight hit the two hedgehogs from the right. It wasn't overpowering, it was just...sudden.

Shadow turned his head to the right in curiosity and gasped in wonder. Beyond the stony gorge they were racing in was a lush, beautiful forest that stretched for endless miles and in the center of this oasis was a shimmering sky blue lake.

"Wow," breathed the ebony hedgehog in wonder. It was amazing. Simply gorgeous.

"Sure is pretty," said Sonic casually.

"Yeah, it sure is," mumbled Shadow half to himself. It was beautiful.

"Whoa! Watch out!" shouted Sonic, grabbing Shadow by the wrist and yanking him back. Shadow lost his footing for a moment then regained his balance.

"What was that for?" snarled Shadow at Sonic for the sudden jerk.

"See for yourself!" replied Sonic and nodded at the cliff's edge. Shadow peered down at it and let a small gasp escape his mouth. He had been close. Too close. Just a few more steps to falling right off the edge.

"Well, I guess it's true. You'll go into what you're focused on,"

Sonic laughed. "OK Sensei Fortune Cookie. Come 'on! I can see the city from here!" and as soon as the blue blur finished his sentence he put on an extra sudden burst of speed and raced towards the city.

Shadow smiled. He'd give Sonic this; he sure was fun to race. Just as he was about to put on an extra burst of speed himself, a tiny flash of movement caught his crimson eye. He turned his head to the right and peered down at the lush forest. A tiny black figure flashed through the forest moving at roughly the same speed as Shadow. The dark hedgehog peered harder. It kind of looked like…Metal Sonic…?

He shook his head and returned his focus on the race. It couldn't be Metal Sonic. They took care of him a long time ago. He took a deep breath and rocketed after Sonic, leaving a fine trail of floating dust behind him.

A shadowy figure looked up from the lush green forest surrounding it and stared up at the racing black hedgehog, running at roughly the same speed as him. He had to get to him before _they_ did.

The target looked down on the forest and stared directly at the shadowy figure. For a nanosecond, he feared he had been discovered. But the ebony hedgehog shook his head, as if trying to clear it, and then rocketed off towards the city with an extra burst of speed.

If he had been organic he would have breathed a sigh of relief. The target hadn't seen him. Good. He wouldn't suspect a thing.

His robotic eyes locked in on the city and zoomed in.

_Analyzing…_

_ Confirmed. _

_ Subject: Project: Shadow_

_ Code Name: Shadow the Hedgehog_

_Location: Westopolis._

_Objective: Capture target before _they_ do…_

Sonic bolted through the streets, leaving a huge mess behind him. The river of wind trailing behind him as he bolted through the streets of Westopolis tore away at whatever happened to be caught in its current. Shadow rocketed close behind the blue blur, not so much trying to catch up to him so much as avoiding the trail of destruction left in his wake. He narrowly avoided a table that had been tipped over outside a restaurant on the corner of Down Street.

"Sorry! We'll clean this up later, I promise," reassured Shadow to the people trying to make sense of the epidemic and trying desperately to clean it up.

A female red wolf with brown hair and black markings wearing a purple scarf and lavender shirt and distressed jeans glared at him and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, you do that Shadow, and tell Sonic if he does this again I'm calling the police. As much as I like him, I'm really getting sick of him coming through here and ruining my meals,"

Shadow laughed nervously. "No problem. I'll talk to him,"

"Yeah, you do that," she growled and smiled wickedly. "Leave him in the dust for me,"

Shadow smiled and laughed. "Not a problem, Tally. See ya around!" replied Shadow cheerfully and bolted off after Sonic.

Sally smiled and shook her head. Hopefully one of them would win the race and then they could stop duking it out for a while. Unlikely, since even if one of them won the other would probably demand a rematch and they would be at it again. But hey, a girl could hope couldn't she?

Shadow rocketed after Sonic at almost full speed, careful not to leave a path of destruction in his wake like the blue hedgehog had. He took a sharp turn to the left and whizzed through a back alley. It was the shortest route he knew to get to Phil's.

The ebony hedgehog took a sharp turn to the left, then the right, right again, then left, then right, left, left again, one more turn and he would be at Phil's.

Rouge was leaning outside the door to Phil's Diner waiting for Shadow to arrive. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time: 10:15.

_Where is he? He said he would be here at around 10:10. The guy's got super speed, how long could it take for him to get here? _She took into account that Sonic could've been late for the race and delayed Shadow from arriving at the time set. Yeah, that sounded like a strong possibility.

Shadow bolted out of nowhere and skidded to a halt next to Rouge and leaned against the wall next to her.

"Hey Rouge, long time no see," he greeted casually.

"Shadow!" exclaimed Rouge cheerfully and wrapped her old friend in a tight hug. Shadow smiled and hugged back.

She let go of him and smiled brightly. "I've missed you so much. I heard you got a promotion at G.U.N."

"It's true. Though I kind of miss my old position. I don't get to do as much field work as I used to,"

"Oh, I see. So have you been in touch with Omega lately?"

"Not really. Been busy. You?"

"Yeah actually. I just saw him last week. He's been living with this girl robot named Kates. I like her. She's pretty nice. She's pretty too, well you know, as far as robots go,"

Shadow laughed. "Omega has a _girlfriend?_ I never thought I'd see the day!"

Rouge giggled. "Me neither! I was surprised when he introduced her to me! But she seems nice enough," Rouge paused when she saw how Shadow was looking at her. "What? Is there something stuck in my teeth?"

"What? Oh no, it's just – have you done something new to your hair?"

"Oh yeah! I just got it styled," explained Rouge proudly, twirling and running her fingers through her hair.

"And is that a new outfit too?"

"Yes, I just bought it yesterday. It was on sale and I _had _to snag it before it got booked back up to full price!"

"Oh, I see. It looks good on you. I like it," complemented Shadow to his friend when he noticed something shiny around her neck.

"Is that new jewelry too?"

"Hm? Oh! Yes, yes it is," replied Rouge touched her diamond necklace. "Do you like it?"  
"Yes, but…"

"But what?" inquired Rouge and raised an eyebrow.

"But you didn't steal it did you?" teased Shadow and smiled mischievously.

Rouge gasped and gave Shadow a friendly shove. "Shadow!" she giggled.

Shadow laughed too and smiled teasingly. He loved to tease her. He always got a great reaction out of her.

A huge gust of wind blasted past them that made Shadow squint. Other customers sitting outside the diner braced themselves. A few let out squeals and one screamed. Only a few of the regulars didn't react. The sudden gust of wind came to a screeching halt and turned around to walk to the front of the diner, smiling. Sonic.

_About time._ Thought Shadow. Wondering if maybe Sonic took the long way or if someone was in trouble or something.

"Hey Rou-"

"Now hold it right there Sonic T. Hedgehog,"

"Huh?" said Sonic in surprise and turned towards the direction the voice had hailed from.

It was an old brown goat with a long grey beard and long horns sitting at one of the tables outside the diner. In his left hand (or hoof) he held a wooden cane and his right hand was holding down an open book, probably to save his page.

"Come here for a second, lad. I want to talk to you for moment,"

Sonic cautiously but willingly stepped closer to old goat.

"Come on, lad, a little closer," urged the old timer and waved for Sonic to come closer.

Sonic took a step closer so that he was standing next to the old goat. He gestured for Sonic lean closer to him. Sonic obeyed and leaned closer. Suddenly the goat lashed out and thwacked Sonic right smack on the top of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That was for almost blowing my book away-" he slammed the tip of his cane into the blue hedgehog's foot, not very hard, but enough that it still hurt. Sonic let out a small cry of pain and cradled his foot in the air while hopping on the other. "-And _that_ was for not cleaning up your messes. You've sure made a mess of this city today, Sonic,"

"Well what can I say, I had a race to win," explained Sonic like it was the most logical thing in the world, still hopping on one foot and cradling the other with his hands.

The old goat stared at him for several long moments, giving him the that's-the-dumbest-excuse-I've-ever-heard-in-my-life/ the you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look. He clearly wasn't happy with the hedgehog's answer. He stole a quick glance at Shadow. Sonic clearly hadn't noticed that he'd lost the race yet.

_Hmph, at least Shadow cleans up his messes._ Thought the old goat. _But then again, he rarely makes them in the first place. Unlike Sonic here._ How Shadow could tolerate being with Sonic for days at a time would always be a mystery to him. He liked Sonic, he sure was friendly enough, but it was when he raced with Shadow that made him wonder how the black hedgehog could stand him.

All the while Shadow stood on the sidelines, trying to hold in his laughter. _Well, he _did_ have it coming. _Thought Shadow as he watched Sonic on one foot and suffer the wrath of Mr. Scape. He always did like that old goat.

"Are you done hitting me now?" asked Sonic, who had finally stopped hopping and was standing once again on two feet.

"Yes, I'm done," reassured the old goat. Just as Sonic had taken a few steps away from Mr. Scape and it seemed as if the old timer would continue reading his book he called to Sonic again. "Oh, one more thing before you go,"

Sonic stopped and turned around and stepped towards Mr. Scape and leaned his head close to his mouth. He opened his mouth and thwacked Sonic on the top of the head again.

"Ow! What was _that_ for?"

"_That_ was for good measure," the old goat pursed his lips, but he didn't fool Shadow. He could see the smile on his face and hear the laughter he was trying to hold back.

Obviously he didn't fool Sonic either, because he rolled his eyes and walked away towards Rouge. Mr. Scape gave up trying to hide his amusement and chuckled audibly, the joy clear in his half-blind eyes. The old geezer wasn't mean; he just liked to push peoples' buttons and then have a good laugh about it. He didn't mean any harm, but there was some truth to his words; Sonic did need to work on cleaning up his messes.

Sonic rolled his eyes again as he stepped up to Rouge and smiled in that charming way only Sonic could smile in. Mr. Scape continued to chuckle to himself and returned to his book. Sonic had made his day, even if it was unintentional. The other people around him returned themselves to whatever it was they had been previously doing as well, losing interest in the old timer's enjoyment.

"Hey Rouge! How's my favorite bat been doin'?" Sonic asked in a casual yet charming way.

"I've been good, thank you. Been doing anything interesting lately?"

"You know me Rouge, never a dull moment. Though I'd say the most exciting thing I did this morning was whooping that sorry Shadow's butt in a race-"

"Ehem," Shadow cleared his throat rather loudly. Sonic turned his head towards the unexpected sound. Shadow had been leaning against the outside wall by the door to Phil's, hidden by the shadows. He was smiling as he watched the blue hedgehog's triumphant expression turned into a look of surprise and then horror at the realization that he had lost at his best event.

"What? H-H-H-How d-did _you _b-b-b-b-b-_beat m-me?"_ stammered Sonic, unable to believe what he was seeing, his jaw hung open in shock.

Shadow smirked and stepped out of the shadows and gave Sonic a pat on the back, maybe a tad bit harder than he should have. But he couldn't help it. Yeah, he was probably being a little smug in his victory. Oh well. Hm, maybe he should try being a little nicer about it. Ha! Nice. He'd probably be milking this one for a _long_ time. And meant, a long, _looooong _time.

"Oh, Sonic. You lost because I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, and you're just a slow blue, loose cannon of a faker,"

Sonic closed his mouth and glared at Shadow as he guffawed in a halfway hysterical dry laugh, almost falling over from his amusement as he slapped Sonic on the back with one hand and clutched his thighs with the other.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, milk it all you want, it's not gonna last-"a hard slap to the back silenced the blue blur as the "Ultimate Lifeform" chortled hysterically. Well, he'd give Shadow this; the guy sure could hit. Actually, had he been working out? Was he hitting him harder than normal? He wasn't sure.

"Shadow, have you been working out lately?" it was Rouge who asked the question, echoing Sonic's thoughts. Though, he was glad she asked it though, he certainly didn't want to be the one to ask it. Shadow would never, _ever_ let him let it down.

"Um, yeah, a little. Does it show?" he replied, flexing his muscles down at his side, then shot Sonic a smug look.

Sonic frowned and crossed his arms, returning Shadow's smug look with a death glare.

"Can I see?" asked Rouge.

"Sure," and Shadow started flexing his muscles to their full capacity as Rouge felt and examined his newly developed muscles, which only made his smug smile grow.

Sonic turned his back to the pair and held his chin in the air, clearly jealous that his rival was getting all the attention instead of him.

"Can we just get breakfast now?" asked Sonic in a very annoyed tone.

Rouge looked up from Shadow's arm and turned to Sonic, as if remembering he was there. She blinked. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Let's go inside," and she turned towards the door and disappeared inside the diner.

Shadow shot Sonic another smug look. "What's the matter, Blue? Jealous?"

Sonic glared at Shadow and bumped past him a little roughly, then turned back and gave Shadow an equally smug look. "In your dreams, faker,"

Shadow rolled his eyes and followed the blue hedgehog inside the diner.

Black binoculars with red lenses zoomed in on the black hedgehog as he entered the small diner and disappeared inside.

The user of the high-tech gear pressed the bottom on the side of the intercom in her pointed ears.

"Sir, target acquired. Transmitting coordinates. Awaiting further orders." The female reported in an almost robotic tone.

_"Do not engage. Continue to observe and gather information. Repeat: Do not engage. Make no attempt at contacting the subject or revealing your presence to him. He must remain ignorant of our presence. Report back when subject is alone."_

"Understood. Agent: D-18 out." She replied curtly to her superior and let the line go quiet.

She silently lowered the special binoculars, folding them so the two cylinders were pressed tightly against the other, and then slipped them into her belt pocket. A light mid-morning breeze briefly ruffled her unusually long fur and shifted from a crouching position to and standing poise, letting the breeze catch her glossy midnight black furred tail and her mismatched curly flowing, bright red hair. She glowered down at the insignificant diner which held the one responsible for her family's fiery death.

_No. I cannot let my personal squabbles get in the way of business. Keep it professional._

But of course, that didn't mean she couldn't and wouldn't make his life a living hell when he was captured. And then, and _only then, _would justice be served.

Unfortunately she had to wait. Oh, the bitter waiting was pure _agony._ But she would be patient. After all, she had waited almost ten years for this moment.

A few more days, perhaps even just a few mere _hours, _wouldn't kill her.

Oh, but the waiting hurt.

She automatically fingered the hand gun hanging at her side, refraining herself from pulling the trigger as she would have _loved_ to do at that moment. Let off a little steam, she guessed.

But she would wait.

Oh, justice would be hers, and it would be ever so sweet.

She jumped off the side of the two-story building she had been standing on and raced down the alleyways and faded into the shadows as she fantasized of about a thousand different ways to watch her enemy die.

"Chili dogs sound pretty good, what do you think?"

"Sonic, we're here for breakfast, not lunch,"

"But it's like, almost eleven!"

"So? Either pick something off the breakfast menu, or pay for it yourself."

"But I didn't bring my wallet!"

"Exactly,"

"You suck,"

"Right back at'cha, blue boy," quipped Shadow and leaned back in his seat and checked the messages on his phone, ignoring the blue hedgehog across from him.

Rouge rolled her eyes. _Now_ she remembered why she had to keep these two apart.

"So, Shadow, what are you gonna get?" asked Rouge tiredly, trying to change the subject.

"Hm? Probably the eggs and bacon with the omelet. And coffee. Black."

"OK, Sonic? What about you? And if you say chili dogs I'll steal your running shoes,"

"Hmph, I still don't know how you can eat those things…" muttered Shadow as he surfed the internet on his phone, looking at the sale they were having at Cabella's on guns.

"Well if I can't have a chili dog I think I'll just have the short stack pancakes with extra syrup,"

"Short stack? That's a first for you," mumbled Shadow, still playing with his phone.

"I'm saving room for the chili dogs I'm having for lunch," retorted Sonic.

"That explains everything," muttered Shadow and perked up when he found a really good deal for a grenade launcher on eBay. The people that were bidding this thing were giving offerings for half of its actual worth. The black hedgehog put in a bid for $200 more than the highest bidder.

"Mornin' fellas! And good mornin' Miss Rouge," greeted a rather wide man in a food stained once-white apron and dark brown, poorly combed hair and a rather impressive bushy mustache.

"Hey Phil! How's things?" inquired Sonic smoothly and casually as he leaned back in his seat and smiled in that charming way only Sonic could.

"Busy, but good. Haven't seen you in a while, Shadow,"

The dark hedgehog merely shrugged. "I've been busy,"

"Understandable. Now, what can I get ya'll?" he asked cheerfully and produced a notepad and pen from his dirty apron.

"I'll have the short stack with extra syrup and some orange juice please," said Sonic smoothly and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

"I think I'll have the same as Sonic – except with less syrup plus an omelet and a cup of fruit on the side," requested Rouge as she closed her menu.

"OK, two short stacks, one with extra syrup, and one with an omelet and fruit cup. Two orange juices…" muttered the cook to himself, and then turned his attention to Shadow.

"What'll it be for you, Shadow?" asked Phil in his gruff, yet friendly voice.

"Hm? I'll just have eggs with an omelet and a side of bacon,"

"How would you like your eggs?"

"Sunnyside up"

"Anything else?"

"Yes, coffee."

"Black, I presume?"

"Mm-hm,"

"Alright, I'll be out with your orders soon," promised Phil as he relieved his customers of their menus and scurried away into the kitchen.

"So, did anyone hear about the new Batman movie coming out?" inquired Sonic, trying to start a conversation.

"Yes, I've heard something about that," replied Shadow without drawing his attention away from his phone.

"What about you Rouge? Heard of it?"

"I've seen the trailer a few times," answered Rouge fiddling with a piece of jewelry she was wearing.

"Well? Does anyone have any interest in going with me?" hinted Sonic nudging Shadow.

"Not really." Replied Shadow, still refusing to look at his blue counterpart.

"Why not? Don't you like me?" questioned Sonic, putting on his best sad-face. But Shadow could see without even looking at the blue spike ball that it was fake. A mock gesture, if you will.

"No, it's not that," he said sarcastically, as if he were humoring a retarded child. "It's just that I don't want to be seen with you, that's all,"

Sonic's mock sad-face was almost instantly replaced by a pair of emerald eyes staring daggers at his black doppelganger.

"Oh, come 'on Shadow. It'd be fun!" insisted Rouge.

"Oh yes. Fun. With Sonic. The only way to have fun with him is either whooping his sorry tail at a race or in a fight," he stated boredly.

"Shadow!"

"What? It's not my fault _someone_ didn't show up on _time _and tore through the streets leaving _me_ with a huge mess to clean up!"

Rouge and Shadow stared at him, shock betraying their faces. Sonic's mouth agape, more so from the shock from the sudden outburst rather than glaring at or retaliating at the black hedgehog's scalding insults.

The trio remained silent for several moments before Rouge broke the awkward silence.

"Phil, we're gonna need that coffee, Shadow's in a mood," she called to the human cook.

"On it!" he yelled back in reply and hurriedly poured the strong coffee into a white mug and slid it in front of Shadow.

"Here you go. Blackest coffee this side of Westopolis,"

"Thank you, Phil," breathed Shadow and took a sip of his strong coffee.

"Had a rough night?" inquired Rouge to her dark friend.

"Little bit. Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?"

"It's the neighbor's damn cat. And her dog," and growled and took a big swig of his coffee and slammed it back down on the table.

"Shadow, it's not beer," joked Sonic as he observed the way his black counterpart treated his coffee (which was much too strong for his taste).

"Tgh! whatever…" he grumbled rested his head in his gloved hand.

"Your neighbor has a cat _and_ a dog?" Rouge raised an eye ridge

"Yeah. The dog barks 24/7 and the cat craps in my yard. Not to mention the two animals hate each other and thought my backyard would make the perfect arena,"

"I heard something about that from Hank. Your new neighbor is Ms. Clupps, right?" replied Rouge.

"Yeah. That's it. The old witch." Muttered Shadow, his face contorting in annoyance at the thought of his new hag of a neighbor.

Sonic raised an eye ridge at Rouge. "Who's Hank?"

"Oh! Didn't I tell you about him?"

Sonic slowly shook his head. "No…"

"Hank's a friend of mine. He moved here about a year ago. He's Wereian. He's _really_ nice. You'd like him," explained Rouge, her face lighting up and her smile brightening up at the thought of the werehog.

"Wereian, eh? I hear they've been getting into some hot water lately," stated Shadow, he himself raising a red eye ridge.

"Yeah. He said it's called 'the Carnage' or something like that,"

Sonic shuddered. "'The Carnage' eh? Ugh, that sounds like fun…"

Rouge nodded absently. "He said something about this being the second one, and that this one's supposed to be a _lot_ worse."

"How so? How bad was the last one?" inquired Sonic, tilting his head slightly to the left.

"I think in the last one the humans raided the Packs and killed just about every werehog in sight, then imprisoned the ones that survived or escaped and treated them horribly,"

"…And this one's supposed to be even worse…?"

Rouge nodded, and then smiled inwardly when she saw Shadow ears perked as he played with his phone and sipped at his coffee, listening in secret to the conversation.

"Yep. That's what Hank told me. He actually told me that when he went to run some errands he was denied three out of four times service,"

"So basically the clerks didn't let him buy anything? Just because he was a werehog?" Sonic asked, shock betraying his usually casual and cool tone.

"Yeah. And from the sounds of it Hank's certainly not the first. I heard a rumor that a werehog was beaten and then thrown out of a restaurant just because he told the waiter that the food he gave him wasn't he ordered,"

"Just for that? I've heard people that scream at the manager because a tiny portion of their food is a little over-cooked and they get a free dessert for their 'inconvenience'. And this guy got punched and thrown out because he told the waiter '_Hey man, this isn't what I ordered?_'"

"That's the sum of it, yeah," confirmed Rouge. "I also heard this rumor how this one werehog deleted a file his boss told him to delete and his workmates beat him till he nearly bled to death and when one of his friends raced him to the hospital half of the nurses and doctors denied him care.

"I also heard of another time when this other werehog was driving home from the grocery store or something and a cop pulled him over and arrested him almost on the spot just because he went a few miles over the speed limit, along with a fine for speeding, but he has to pay it in double because the cop found a pocket knife in his pocket,"

"What's a pocket knife got to do with going a few miles over the speed limit?" inquired Shadow, lifting his crimson gaze from his phone and staring at Rouge with an unreadable expression.

Rouge shrugged. "I dunno. But I heard he's down at Station Square Prison awaiting a two year sentence."

Sonic slammed his hand against the table. "That's not cool! I break the sound barrier daily and no one says a word. This guy goes a few over the limit and he gets two years in _prison?_ I outta have a word with the cops about 'speeding'," seethed Sonic, his jade eyes burning with that same fire he used when talking about protecting the innocent, like back in the old days when he it was just him and Tails in Green Hills whooping Dr. Robotnik's over-sized butt.

Shadow shook his head, a feint ghost of a smile spreading across his tan face. "Sonic, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. They might just start giving you tickets for going over the speed limit," chuckled Shadow as his cruelest grin extended.

"Whatever…" laughed Sonic, but his voice betrayed a note of his uncertainty.

"But this whole 'Carnage' thing explains the lack Wereians lately," concluded Shadow with a sigh and blinked in surprise when his phone beeped and showed the message icon.

"Who is it?"

"Here's your meals fellas! And your pancakes milady, hehehehe," Phil chuckled and set the anthros' orders in front of them.

"Oh, thank you Phil," thanked Rouge absent mindedly.

"Yeah, thanks Phil ol' pal," said Sonic in his smooth, casual voice, winked and gave the human cook a thumbs-up.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, thanks Phil," thanked Shadow, his eyes and mind elsewhere as he scrolled down to read the text message on the screen.

"So Shads, who's it from?" inquired Sonic as he skewered a piece of pancake smothered in maple syrup and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Not sure. I don't recognize the number." Answered Shadow, still looking over the anonymous message.

"Hm. Weird," shrugged Sonic and continued to stuff his fresh pancakes in his mouth, chewing in satisfaction.

Shadow shrugged and put his phone back in his pocket and impaled a piece of Sunnyside up eggs. "Oh well. Someone probably typed in the wrong number," he concluded and stuffed the piece in his mouth.

Rouge stared at him for a moment as he ate away at his eggs before turning to her own meal and the trio ate the rest of their meal in silence.

A pair of high-tech binoculars with blood-red lenses peered through the huge side window of Phil's Diner and locked onto a black hedgehog with red markings.

"Sir, I have him in my sights. Shall I proceed with the plan?"

_"No. Wait until he is alone. Then proceed."_

"Any limits on _how_ I should proceed, sir?"

_"None."_

"Perfect." He hissed and a dangerous smile crept up on his exceedingly tan face, his sharp incisors gleamed in the small rays of sun that shone through the shadows of his hiding spot.

"Final permission to execute Operation: Black Snare?"

_"Granted."_

A menacing chuckle rose from the teenager's scarred throat. "You won't be disappointed, sir," he snarled in devilish delight and cocked the sniper in his hands.

_"Pray I won't be. You know the consequences for failure,"_

"Don't sweat it. The boys and I won't let ya down. Consider Project: Shadow ours," he reassured and aimed his weapon at the dark hedgehog's head as he was taking a sip of his coffee.

"You're mine, freak. And this time, you're not gettin' away so easily. You'll _pay_ for what you did to me," he snarled and let his long snake-like tail slither out from underneath his long leather jacket and bared his dagger-sharp fangs in a lethal smile. The thin but deadly spines rose from his back, puncturing small holes in his ebony coat and his long pointed claws slowly began to snake out from his finger tips as he allowed his index finger to twitch by the trigger.

He briefly closed his eyes and took several sharp, deep breaths and let the spines on his back lay flat again and the sharp claws in his finger tips slowly recede back into his flesh as his long snake-like tail quickly retreated back under his long jet-black coat.

The aggressive male reluctantly lowered his gun and removed his finger from the trigger and stared flaming daggers at the unbeknowing black hedgehog.

_You'll be mine yet, freak. _Snarled the aggressive male with the long black coat to himself. He stood up and concealed the weapon in his jacket, stuffed his hands in his the pockets of his coat, and sauntered away from his lookout point.

"Now, the only question is who to use for bait…?" He wondered aloud to himself, stealing glances from side to side, searching for victims.

"Haha! You'll have to do better than that to get a score on my side of the field!"

The dark male's head turned instinctively turned his head towards to noise as the sound of laughter and a ball bouncing penetrated his pointed ears.

He rounded a corner and was greeted by the sight of a group of young teenagers playing basketball in a back alley court.

"Catch me if you can, Slowhogs!" yelled a muscular bright red werehog as he jumped up over the hoop and preformed a rather impressive slam dunk.

_Definitely a Garnet. _Contemplated the dark male as he observed the group of juvenile teenagers, whom all appeared to be either Packian or Clanian. He watched as the bright red male werehog fell to the ground and landed with ease, thinking with no doubt that he was a member of the Garnet Pack, one of the Wereian Packs, renowned for their impressive jumping abilities.

"Not a bad shot for a guy who can't tell his port from his starboard!" called a tall, dark purple werehog with lavender highlights.

The dark male locked his eyes on the tall, dark violet werehog – _Must be an Amethyst._ – he thought and reflected on the thought that he was most likely training to be a navigator if he was using terminology such as "port" and "starboard".

The red werehog shrugged. "Well not all of us are gonna be navigators, ya know!" he yelled back, confirming the dark male's thoughts.

"Ah come 'on you two! Let's play now and talk about training later!" shouted a small brown Earthhog (who resembled an ordinary anthro hedgehog), no doubt from the Earth Clan.

"No kidding! It's bad enough my folks talk about it _constantly_, the _last _thing I need is to have my friends talking about it too!" called back a powerfully built dark gray wolf (probably from the Wolfian Pack, Grey Pack).

So many victims to choose from. He crossed out the gray Wolfian and the Garnet werehog as contenders, taking their size and powerfully built bodies into account and deciding a weaker prey would better suffice to his current needs. He shifted his gaze to the small Earthhog, who couldn't have been much older than fourteen, but after a few moments of careful consideration ruled him out. He'd learned from past experience never to underestimate an Elementhog until realizing the full extent of its abilities. Even though he was small, he might make up for it in his bending abilities, as he had seen before. So he finally settled on the Amethyst male. Amethyst Wereians were never too keen on fighting, (which was a bit of a shame, since he always enjoyed it when his victims put up a fight, no matter how feeble it was). But for this trap he needed someone who appeared weak and timid, something to lure in his newest target. And with the Carnage starting up again, any passersbys would probably assume he was a bit of an extremist and continue on their way (since no one in their right mind would get in the middle of a fight between a werehog and an extremist, no matter how weak the werehog's roots were).

A cruel and dangerous grin spread across his face and he bared his gleaming incisors, imagining just how easy this would be once he got rid of the others.

_Never stray too far from home, kiddies. You just might get hurt. _He thought with dark pleasure at the thought of seeing the teenagers' eyes caked in fear.

He jumped down from the roof of the three story building and landed gracefully and silently on the ground. The teenagers continued to play basketball, completely unaware of the dark male's presence. Just as the small Earthhog was about to make a basket the dark male pulled out a small throwing knife and hurled it at the orange ball with ease, popping it and pinning it against the wall. The four teenagers turned their head towards to area where the blade had hailed from, and the dark male took that as his queue to step out and "introduce" himself.

"Good morning, gentlemen. I'm not interrupting, am I?" he said in his most civil manner, as he produced a cigarette from his coat and lit it.

"What do you want?" demanded the bright red werehog, already hunched over in a fighting stance that made the dark male wonder if he was part Ruby (since he also seemed to have a sort of cockiness and fighting instinct that were custom to Ruby werehogs).

"Oh, I just need to borrow one of your friends for a few minutes, that's all," he said in such a casual tone that most people would have missed the hidden threat within the phrase.

"Well you can forget it. Now get out of here, Deathwatcher before we have you skinned alive," threatened the dark grey wolf, he himself hunching over in a battle stance.

The dark male sighed and shook his head in mock disappointment (silently laughing to himself at the Packian curse word), grinning with the same smile he had been using, and took another whiff from his cigarette and breathed out the harmful smoke into the air. Little did these teenagers know that this particular cigarette was made with a special drug that when smoked it made the people around it drowsy and a bit "out-of-it", as you would say. Fortunately for the dark male he had been building up an immunity to the harmful drug so the smoke had no effect on him, but no doubt such was not the case for any of these teens, seeing as how they were all showing a few of the minor side effects of the drug.

"Oh, none of you seem to get it, do you?" he stated, a steady dose of venom dripping at the back of his words. He took a step forwards and teens took a step back. He took one last final whiff of his cigarette and lunged at the Amethyst male and pinned him against the ground.

"Hey-!"

The dark male produced a handgun from his jet-black, leather jacket and pointed it at the Amethyst male's temple, forcing the other teens to freeze in their tracks.

"Make another move and I might just have to see if it's true that Wereians can survive mortal wounds, eh?" he snarled and pushed the barrel of the gun harder against the male Amethyst's temple.

"What do want?" asked the small Earthhog warily.

"I just wanna borrow your friend here for a few minutes actually, and then I'll give him right back," he answered and placed a firm grip around the young teen's scruff and pulled him upward forcing him to stand up with the handgun still pointed at his head.

"P-Please, I-I'll give you my wallet, and t-then we can drop this whole thing-"

"Oh shut up, I don't want your wallet, I just wanna borrow you for a few minutes, that's all," he snarled and strengthened his grip on the purple male's scruff.

The Amethyst male gulped and tried to steady his rapidly beating heart. "You're not a rapist or an extremist, are you?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Nah, don't worry. I'm not homosexual and it's not Amethysts I have a problem with, it's the Aquamarines and Zircons I can't stand,"

"Why you…" growled the powerfully-built dark gray Wolfian and raised his fist.

The Amethyst raised his hands in front of him, as if warding off an evil demon. "Wait! Stone, relax. I'll be fine. J-Just go, I'll catch up,"

"Heh, smart kid. Now beat it, before I put that mortal wound thing to the test," he sneered and pressed the barrel of the gun harder against the purple male's temple.

"You sure you'll be OK, Steven?" asked the dark grey Wolfian named Stone.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine. J-Just go on without me. I'll meet you at the Shack. J-Ju-Just go," Stone gave him an uncertain look. "Please. I'll be fine."

Stone turned to the Garnet (who might be part Ruby) and gave him a questioning look. He shrugged jerked his head to the left, signaling for his friends to follow him. He gave his purple friend named Steven a knowing and concerned look before staring daggers at the dark male before running down the alley with his two friends close behind him, all of which glanced back to make sure their friend was still OK.

It wasn't until the trio had disappeared around the corner that the dark male lowered the gun and hid it back in his coat. He yanked "Steven" closer to him and locked his silvery white eyes with the Amethyst's amber yellow ones.

"Now listen to me ya little mutt; you're gonna play along or things are gonna have to get a little messier than necessary. Got it?"

Steven nodded quickly. "Yeah, y-yeah. G-G-Got it,"

"Good. Now, be a good boy and make it look real," he snarled as he pulled out a very lethal looking knife.

Steven gulped and cursed himself for being born an Amethyst instead of a Black Diamond as he sent a silent prayer to Star Pack that he would survive this.

"Awwhhh. Thanks for breakfast, Rouge. That was _de-lish-ous," _the blue streak thanked as he happily patted his now distended stomach.

"Yeah, thanks Rouge. That was really good," said Shadow absent-mindedly.

Rouge laughed lightly. "It's not a problem. Hey, do you guys wanna go the jewelry store? I hear they're having a sale on rare diamonds,"

"No thanks Rouge. I have some errands I have to run," said Shadow (perhaps a little too quickly…)

"Same here, Rouge. How's 'bout I meet ya in the park, I hear they did some _major_ gardening and _I _wanna check it out,"

The white bat rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So I'll see you later Shadow? Maybe you could stop by and we could all have a movie night or something,"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. Say, 7:30ish?"

"It's a date," agreed Rouge and strolled in the direction of the jewelry store.

"Don't steal anything!" Shadow called after her, a teasing look in his eyes.

"Shut up!" she yelled back, but he could hear the laughter in her voice.

After several heartbeats Sonic turned towards the black hedgehog (who was playing with his phone again) with his gloved hands in his pockets.

"So, I guess I'll ya 'round then,"

"Hm? Oh, um, yeah, see you later,"

"Cool. Later faker!" Sonic called back to his dark friend and raced off towards the park.

Shadow smiled briefly and then turned his attention back to the strange text he had gotten earlier that morning.

_Hey freak, if you're up for saving a life today come 'on down Flower Street at about 11:30. You'll know you're in the right place when you hear the screamin'. See ya then._

Shadow furrowed his brow in concentration, trying to come up with who could've sent the text.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a high pitched, agonized scream penetrated his pointed ears.

The black hedgehog immediately perked and pocketed his phone and listened for the scream again.

It didn't take long before the second one split the quiet morning air.

Shadow shot through the nearest alley, his hover skates ablaze, as he followed the sound of the agonized scream.

_Oh merciful Decoria, why couldn't I have born into a fighting Pack…?_ It was a half question, half beg. But he could barely finish the thought before his attacker drove his knife deeper along the seam of his wolf-like tail as he let out another agonized scream.

He didn't know what this…_thing _wanted, but he certainly wasn't interested in money. He tried that several times now and each it just landed a fist in his stomach or a knife's tip running across something. Right now, it was his tail.

"That's right, mutt. Keep screamin'. You just better hope that my 'friend' shows up soon or I might 'accidently' kill you…" he hissed in his large, wolf-like ears, his hot breath surprisingly sending chills down his spine. But the sensation didn't last long as he drove his knife deeper into his tail and he let out yet another agonized scream.

Shadow frantically checked the back allies he whizzed past, desperately trying to find the source of the tortured cry.

It sounded again, this time more strangled and tortured than before.

But it was also louder this time, which meant it was closer.

He just hoped it wasn't too late.

He soared through the allies at a speed he didn't normally travel at.

A speed he normally saved for a serious race against Sonic.

Only difference was he wasn't racing the blue hedgehog this time. He was racing against time. And a life was on the line this time too.

He only hoped it wasn't someone he knew.

"P-P-PLEASE! Stop!" Steven begged as hot tears streamed down his face.

"Ah, and people wonder why I prefer it when my victims fight back. At least they don't go crying a few minutes into it. Unfortunately, I'm a busy man and I'm on a tight schedule, and fortunately, I don't have any limits on what I can and can't do on this job so…"

He slowly lifted his now crimson stained blade to the young werehog's trembling chin.

"…I guess there's nothin' left for me to do but finish you off. I got nothin' better to do right now and it seems like my 'friend's' not comin'…"

"N-N-N-N-No…_please…"_ he beseeched, a pleading look in his eyes along with a thick coat of raw fear.

Just as the dark male was about to slit the teenager's throat a black hedgehog skidded to a halt about ten feet away from the two.

Shadow skidded to a halt just outside of one of the back allies and stared in horror at the scene before him. On the ground was a bloody, trembling teenage purple male werehog riddled with nasty cuts and bruises the size of small pumpkins. And standing over him was a tall dark green hedgehog in a long, jet-black leather coat with a lethal looking blood stained knife in his hand.

"P-p-p-_please….h-help m-me..."_ pleaded the young werehog pitifully.

"Leave the kid alone. Just walk away and we can forget this ever happened." Ordered Shadow in a menacing tone, a thick coat of venom enveloping his words.

"Heh. 'Bout time you showed up. I was just about to slit this mutt's throat," greeted the dark male casually with a slight Australian accent and stood up, putting the bloody knife away in his black jacket and stepped towards the ebony hedgehog as if the injured, bloody werehog behind him didn't exist.

"What do you want?" snarled Shadow unkindly and stole a glance at the bleeding teenager.

"I just want to talk. It's been a _long_ time Shadow…"

"Wha-? What are you talking about? I've never seen you before. I don't know who you are."

"Oh no. You've seen me before. You know who I am. You just might not _remember_ all that…" he took a deep breath, not from nervousness but perhaps just to psych the ebony hedgehog out. "But enough of that. Let's play a little game."

"What kind of 'game'?" his crimson eyes narrowed. It was situations like this that had made him hate games.

"To avoid an unnecessary fight, I vote we do a little coin toss,"

Shadow almost laughed when he mentioned "unnecessary fight" when he had just "unnecessarily" attacked an innocent teen just for the sake of luring him in…

Suddenly the air had the all-too-familiar scent of a trap in it.

"A coin toss?"

"Yes. I've always considered myself a bit of a gambling man. If you win the mutt can go free. But if I win, you walk away and I do with it as I please. What do you say?"

Shadow weighed his options and stole a glance at the trembling, bloodied werehog on the concrete ground. They locked eyes for a moment, the teen's yellow amber eyes pleading for help. On one hand he could fight this green thug and get the kid to a hospital, or he could take his chances and go for the coin toss, but if he lost this green gangster would almost indefinitely kill the young werehog. But then again, he could either spin dash the monster or walk away, making it seem like he was gonna stick to the agreement, then put a bullet through his skull the millisecond that blade of his came to close to the teen's flesh. He helped justify the thought of the possibility of breaking his word by the fact that an innocent life was at risk and that this thug probably had never even heard of the word "honor".

"Well?" urged the dark male and he placed his foot over the teen's bloody tail and stepped on it, not hard enough that it would break, but enough to inflict pain. A low moan escaped the young werehog's mouth.

"I'll take the coin toss."

A cruel and dangerous grin spread across the dark male's exceptionally tan face and a look of utter horror contorted the teenager's face.

The dark male produced a gold coin from his coat pocket and flipped it in the air a few times. "Wha'cha wanna be?"

"Heads," Shadow replied curtly.

"Then I guess I'll be tails," he breathed, though a dangerous grin had settled on his face. A lethal look in the dark male's silvery white eyes sent a slight chill down the ebony hedgehog's spine.

He flipped the golden coin in the air. To Shadow and the Wereian teen it seemed to be turning in slow motion as it flipped through the air and fell slowly to the ground in a small puddle of the young werehog's blood.

As soon as the coin hit the ground time seemed to have been frozen. The top of the coin seemed to have been blurred and only the sound of the dark male's voice could confirm the result of the toss. Shadow peered closer at the small, gold object, which was now stained with small streaks of crimson. On the front of the coin was what appeared to be a tribal style hawk. Like an insignia…

"Heads. Looks like you win, Blackie,"

The voice of the dark male snapped Shadow out of his thoughts and was immediately greeted by the sound of the teenager breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Good. Now, leave the kid alone." Growled Shadow, clenching his fists and hunching down in a fighting stance.

The dark male shrugged and lifted his foot from the teen's wolf-like tail and gave him a good swift kick in the side. He yelped like a wounded dog and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach as his bloodied face contorted in pain.

"Get out of here! Now!" snarled Shadow, his gloved hands itching to reach for the handgun he kept stored in his quills. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the kid trying to crawl away.

"Certainly." He answered smoothly in a disturbing voice. His hand reached up for his right ear, and for the first time Shadow noticed the intercom imbedded in the dark male's pointed ear.

Little did Shadow know that by winning the coin toss and thereby allowing the Wereian teen to go free, he had just sold his own freedom in exchange.

The green thug pressed a button on them and smiled wickedly, his deadly incisors gleaming. Shadow suddenly noticed that the dark male's eyes didn't seem entirely focused on him, but, they seemed more focused on whatever was _behind_ him…

"Fire." The dark male said plainly in an even tone.

It happened so fast that the black hedgehog didn't even have time to react. A small dart shot out of nowhere and planted itself in the back of Shadow's neck.

A sharp breath escaped the ebony hedgehog's mouth. His eyes lids began to flutter and his crimson eyes began to lose focus. Then a low groan escaped his mouth as his eyes receded to the back of his head as his eyes finally closed and he fell to the hard, bloodied ground with a _thud._

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog," the dark male snarled wickedly at the unconscious Ultimate Lifeform in dark pleasure, clearly enjoying the sight of the black hedgehog on the ground knocked-out.

That's when he started laughing.

It started as a menacing chuckle, and then grew to a dark giggle, then finally, an insane laugh. And it just kept going. It seemed never-ending. Ringing in the teen's pointed wolf-like ears like a horrible, never-ending song. It was a sound the young werehog would never forget.

He crawled as fast as he could away from the dark male and the black hedgehog that had saved his life. He stole a glance back just as a group of shadowy figures had begun to lock the black hedgehog's wrists and ankles in strange, heavy-looking shackles.

The young Wereian named Steven turned his head back to the road in front of him and continued on as fast as his beaten body allowed.

_Why couldn't I have been born a Diamond? _He silently grumbled, wishing he could have the famed thick 'impenetrable' hide of a Diamond as he rounded a corner into another alley where he was safe from being seem by the dark male and his demons – as the young werehog could only think of that word to describe them- and attempted to stand up, using the brick wall as a support. He slowly stood up, clutching his stomach and leaning against the wall, one of his eyes closed (due to a hard punch in the face by the dark male), and slowly limped his way towards the nearest back alley that would lead him to the outward streets of Westopolis.

He had to find help. And fast.

Here's Chapter 1 of Rebellyonus! (Re-bell-EE-on-us) Let me know what you think in your reviews. Any ideas, constructive criticism, comments, are very welcome and are encouraged. So please, REVIEW! (PS: For every 10 reviews I'll post a new chapter early/a cover or illustration (on DeviantART) to go along with the story.) (PSS: I will try to post one chapter every 2 weeks, but with school coming up some chapters might be delayed, like for example being pushed back a week or whenever I can finish it.) This is also on DeviantART, same username: FeatherlynneXWarrior. REVIEW!


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